Don't forget, either, the President said he "looked into Putin's soul" and believed he knew that man too; it just goes to show, we don't know what someone is really like until/unless we can see it, over a period of time. Which is why it would have been better for the President to pick someone who has proven themselves, by words and deeds, to be another Thomas or Scalia.
The larger question still looming over the entire mess is: Why didn't he?